The Suicide Squad: What Did You Think?

Last Updated on August 10, 2021

At long last, James Gunn's The Suicide Squad is playing in theaters everywhere (and on HBO Max for a month in the U.S), and many are hailing it as one of the best superhero movies in recent memory. Indeed, our own JimmyO was effusive with praise when he saw it last month, giving it a rare 10/10. Over on Rotten Tomatoes, the film is one of the best-reviewed superhero movies ever, sporting a 93% fresh score based on over 200 reviews. By contrast, David Ayer's original has a 26% rating based on over 300 reviews.

We covered Ayer's original in-depth on this week's WTF Happened to This Movie (see below), but what of the partially rebooted sequel? I was lucky enough to see it theatrically this week, and I had a blast with it. It's the wild, fun "mission movie" we all expected from the first one, and Gunn seems to be having a whale of a time cutting loose with the hardcore R-rating Marvel would never allow him. 

I particularly enjoyed some of the new additions to the cast, with Idris Elba's Bloodsport a likable anti-hero that I thought came off better than Will Smith's similar Deadshot in the original. They made a wise decision to allow him to play a new character rather than carry on Smith's role. John Cena is also terrific as Peacemaker, and it's no wonder he's getting his own HBO Max show. Margot Robbie, as always, is excellent as Harley Quinn, and this certainly seems to be her best showcase in the role to date. And Stallone steals every scene voicing King Shark. All hail Sly! 

My only caveat is that the villains are pretty weak here, just as they were in the last film. Viola Davis's Amanda Waller is less imposing here than she was last time, and I wish they had a baddie that could believably go toe-toe with our anti-heroes. I also thought it got a little episodic in the mid-section during Harley's sojourn in Corto Maltese, but overall this was a great flick.

At the end of the day, though, it doesn't matter what we think – it's YOU who we want to hear from, so make sure to talkback below with your thoughts! Do you think it improved on the David Ayer film? Does Peacemaker deserve a spin-off? Was Bloodsport a better character than Deadshot? Let us know!

In the meantime, here are some interviews we did for the film: